LANSING, MI - The U.S. Justice Department sued the state Tuesday, seeking an order requiring that hundreds of military and overseas voters who did not receive absentee ballots on time be given more time for their votes to be counted.

The lawsuit - predicted late last week by Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson - was filed in the Grand Rapids federal courthouse.

Johnson had warned that 70 of more than 1,500 local clerks did not mail or email absentee ballots to military and overseas voters on time. More than 200 others did not give the state a status update on whether they had met the 45-day deadline to do so before the Aug. 7 primary election.

Federal attorneys also are seeking to make sure all absentee votes are counted for the Sept. 5 special primary election in the 11th Congressional District in suburban Detroit.

"Americans have fought and died for the right to vote," said Patrick Miles, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan. "We must ensure eligible voters have the opportunity to cast their vote and for it to count."

Secretary of State Ruth Johnson

U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker quickly issued an order Tuesday setting a hearing for Friday in Grand Rapids on the Justice Department's motion for a preliminary injunction.

He said all parties in suit share an interest in ensuring military and overseas voters can vote by absentee ballot.

"With that in mind, the Court encourages all interested parties to spend at least as much time and effort working on solutions that will ensure this common goal, as in preparing litigation papers for the Court," Jonker wrote.

In 2009, Congress passed a law requiring that states send absentee ballots to military voters, their families and overseas citizens no later than 45 days before a federal election.

The federal government also is asking the judge to require that state officials closely monitor and certify cities' and townships' transmission of absentee ballots to affected voters and report on its compliance.

Johnson spokeswoman Gisgie Gendreau said the state Bureau of Elections sent at least three reminders to clerks before the 45-day deadline.

"For now, Johnson has instructed clerks in affected communities to immediately contact military and overseas voters and to offer a new ballot if one was not received," she said. "Come August, she will call on the Legislature to beef up administrative remedies so that court action is not needed to ensure military and overseas voters get their ballots in time."

In an interview Monday, Southfield Township Clerk Sharon Tischler told MLive that the reason she was two days late emailing ballots to eight military and overseas voters was one of timing.

The office is not open on Saturday, June 23, 45 days ahead of the primary. She decided to send them the following Monday instead of the Friday before - when she and her lone assistant clerk also were trying to turn around close to 1,200 absentee ballot applications from non-military and overseas voters.

"You really want to try to do some things when you're fresh," Tischler said, noting that they were sent by email and still reached voters before regular mail would have.

"We've got a lot of stuff going on in here. There's two of us. ... I realize the feds and the state aren't happy with it. We'll try to change stuff up a bit (for the November election)."